Fragrance, Business, Baby and You!
Fragrance, business, baby and you! Years ago while I was studying my two make up diplomas, we covered a lovely section on fragrance. I have always loved perfume, so I embraced this particular module with gusto! I loved hearing about Chanel, and the many other French companies of notoriety; but my favourite story was about Estee Lauder. Unafraid of competition, the monarch of makeup and perfume started her sister company Clinique. She said “If you’re going to compete against someone, you may as well compete against your own best self.” That was indeed very smart thinking! Since the dawn of that time, Estee Lauder has become an icon, now going on to own 29 brands. Why and how was she so successful? One of the things that Estee Lauder did was to ‘get noticed’. There’s no mediocrity here. Her methodology for this may have seemed quite unorthodox at the time, but it worked. Creating the fragrance ‘Beautiful’ and knowing that she needed a captive audience, she commanded one! The story, as told to me by my lecturer, Franklin Chaloner, of Franklin International, went something like this. Ms. Lauder took a bottle of her coveted fragrance ‘Beautiful’ to a department store, and promptly dropped it. The fragrance wafted through the store, via air conditioning vents and women gathered to find out what that scent was. Suddenly she had sales after the conception of what was probably a 5 minute marketing ploy! How wonderful to be so richly creative! I think what she showed us in this scenario is that to be successful in business, sometimes you have to take a chance. What she did was take a chance on something that seemingly could not fail. She recognised something very important; that women are inspired, just like she was, by beautiful things. Appeal to their emotions, and you have it in the bag. Beautiful is still one of the most popular fragrances in the world today. It was realised quite some time ago that fragrance plays a large role in our lives for better or worse. Perfume, or really fragrance of any kind, can evoke strong emotions and memories of another time. If you smell the soft earth wet with the rain, it may remind you of your childhood, or a special time in your life. A particular washing powder or coffee can send you on a lovely trip down memory lane! Fragrance is everywhere now and for a very good reason! Aromas evoke passion! What does any perfume company hope to gain from creating a signature fragrance that stands out. It’s not just about notoriety, it’s about making women feel special, sexy, feminine and it’s about being recognisable for that fragrance. People close to me know that I don’t wear anything but my favourite, called Eden, by Cacharel; and it is recognised wherever I go. Many women have asked me “Are you wearing Eden?” Others who don’t know ask “What is that beautiful fragrance?” Without meaning to, we respond to fragrance on a subconscious level that can be both positive and negative! Knowing that I am strongly influenced by fragrance, I experiment with it when I’m pregnant and I get past the nauseous stage. Being so hormonal I find some fragrances highly overwhelming and unpleasant; this is common for many pregnant women. However, once you can get beyond that, there is a whole world of fragrance waiting out there for you to explore, and for a very good reason! Let me explain. With each baby I have had, I went in search of a particular shower gel, soap, perfume or massage oil that didn’t irritate me, and then I used it for the entire time, even taking it to hospital with me. One woman I know only used her chosen scent as her ‘hospital fragrance.’ This is because every time she smells that scent, it reminds her of when her baby was born and the experiences she had while she was in hospital. Years later, when you want to soak in that beautiful memory, assuming your chosen product is still on the market, you can grab a bottle and inhale yesterday! Now that’s magical! Remember when your newborn smelt like milk and honey, or your favourite baby product such as Johnson’s or Cussons? Sometimes if you pick up a bottle of baby shampoo and breathe it in, you can suddnely be right back in your bathroom with that slippery little angel once again. The same applies to any fragrance you care to choose! While the jury is still out in some circles as to whether aromatherapy has any real effect, or whether it is purely a placebo, there is no doubting the magic and power that fragrance plays in our lives! I think it is for this reason that I gravitated towards learning more about it and the more I learn, the more I believe there is a very powerful response to these essences that have a greater effect on our minds and bodies than we truly realise. I think fragrance really enhances harmony and inner-balance. Just as an aside, once my baby is born, I don’t use strong perfumes at all, so that he or she can get used to my natural scent. I tend to choose a gently scented shower gel or soap (such as a milk and honey one), and I leave my favourite perfume on the shelf until they are a little older, otherwise it can be quite overwhelming to a little nose. In every corner of our world we are influenced by fragrance. From the baking of fresh bread or biscuits, to a Thai banquet, or a freshly bathed child, we follow our noses to what makes us happiest. I hope that you can follow the scent to all that brings you success and joy also. Michelle Hayward Mother of 9 beautiful children, Makeup Artist/Cosmetologist, Certificate in Aromatherapy http://thehouseofvintner.blogspot, http://abodiumdesigns.blogspot.com, http://michellehayward.blogspot.com, http://haywardhomestead.blogspot.com About Author Michelle Hayward is a feature writer at Connect2Mums http://connect2mums.ning.com and an author of a forthcoming novel http://michellehayward.blogspot.com which falls into the Chicklit Genre. Disclaimer: Article submitters are solely responsible for the content of their articles. ArtiLib can't be held liable for the contents of the articles. Report Abuse | Browse By Category |
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